The ZIMBABWE Situation Our thoughts and prayers are with Zimbabwe
- may peace, truth and justice prevail.
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FinGaz

      650 white farmers evicted ahead of August deadline

      Staff Reporter
      7/25/02 8:23:11 PM (GMT +2)

      NEARLY 650 white farmers have already been evicted from their farms by
new settlers, some of whom are senior government officials, ahead of the
August 10 deadline set by the government for them to quit their properties
or face prosecution, Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU) president Collin Cloete
said yesterday.

      Most of the evictions have taken place in farms around the three
Mashonaland provinces, he told the Financial Gazette.

      "About 650 farmers have been pushed off their land by government
officials and potential A2 settlers," Cloete said.

      Under the government's controversial land reforms, A2 model farmers
refers to the new black landowners with farming skills and financial
resources who are taking over commercial agriculture from the white farmers.

      But many of those who have benefited under the A2 scheme are close
associates of President Robert Mugabe and supporters of his ruling ZANU PF
party.

      Calling the future of largely white-led commercial agriculture in
Zimbabwe bleak, Cloete said the government's land reform drive now looked
more like it was intended to purge the white farmer.

      "The future of farming is bleak. It looks like the intention is to get
all the land and get rid of white farmers," the CFU chief said.

      He said about 70 percent of the estimated 4 500 white commercial
farmers had been issued with government orders to stop farming by August 10,
while the government had been issuing Section 8 orders to the remaining
farmers.

      The latter order bars farmers from carrying out any farming for 45
days after which they must leave their properties.

      The often violent and chaotic land reforms are largely blamed for
disrupting farming last season and causing a 60 percent plunge in food
production, triggering the current food crisis which threatens half of
Zimbabwe's population or six million people.

      The United States, Canada, the European Union, New Zealand and
Switzerland have imposed sanctions on Mugabe and 52 of his top officials
over their land reform policies and other governance issues.
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FinGaz

      Makoni seeks extra funds for food imports, land reforms

      Staff Reporter
      7/25/02 8:26:37 PM (GMT +2)

      FINANCE Minister Simba Makoni is expected to approach Parliament today
with a proposal to raise an undisclosed amount of amount to finance food
imports and Zimbabwe's agrarian reforms.

      Justice Minister and the leader of Zimbabwe's Parliament Patrick
Chinamasa announced on Tuesday that Makoni would be presenting a
supplementary budget when the House resumes sitting today.

      "I move that the Minister of Finance and Economic Development will
present a supplementary budget on Thursday 25 July," Chinamasa said soon
after President Robert Mugabe opened the third session of the fifth
Parliament of Zimbabwe.

      It was however not clear at the time of going to print yesterday how
much additional funds Makoni would seek under the supplementary budget.

      The minister earlier this year told a gathering organised by the
National Economic Consultative Forum that the government was looking for an
additional $44 billion (US$800 million) for drought relief during the
current fiscal and calendar year.

      Makoni had initially budgeted to spend $390 billion in the 2002
national budget and was forecasting a deficit of 14.9 percent of annual
gross domestic product (GDP).

      Analysts now project the budget deficit is likely to rise to 20
percent of GDP if Parliament approves the latest supplementary budget, the
fourth one in as many years.

      "The additional budget will definitely push the budget deficit to
about 20 percent of GDP," economist Witness Chinyama told the Financial
Gazette.

      University of Zimbabwe business lecturer Tony Hawkins said: "This will
definitely result in increased borrowing and increased inflation and worsen
the country's chances of regaining the support of the International Monetary
Fund (IMF), particularly in light of the promise made by the government to
rein in money supply."

      Zimbabwe's national domestic debt has grown from about $75 billion at
the end of 2000 to more than $318 billion now.

      The IMF last month suspended Zimbabwe from getting technical
assistance, citing the failure by Harare to meet its obligations to the
Bretton Wood institution.

      Zimbabwe had accumulated arrears of more than US$132 million to the
IMF at the end of May this year. The IMF had already suspended any balance
of payments support for Zimbabwe, citing its failure to meet agreed economic
targets and governance issues.

      The supplementary budget comes in the wake of a critical shortage of
food after a poor agricultural season last year and the disruption of
farming on commercial farms by ruling ZANU PF supporters.

      Zimbabwe needs to import up to 1.5 million tonnes of grain to feed
millions of starving villagers and urban dwellers between now and May 2003,
when the next harvest is expected.

      The supplementary budget will also go towards an ambitious agrarian
reform programme under which the government has promised to provide newly
resettled farmers more than $8.5 billion in agricultural inputs.

      Makoni has insisted in the past that the additional funding for food
imports would come from savings on interest from the government's domestic
debt but analysts say the minister would not seek parliamentary approval to
use money that was already approved.

      Figures from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe show that the Treasury spent
more than $18.1 billion on interest between January and April this year.
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FinGaz

      Dairibord to import 20 000 heifers

      Staff Reporter
      7/25/02 7:23:07 PM (GMT +2)

      MILK processing group Dairibord Zimbabwe Limited (DZL) will next year
import 20 000 heifers worth about $2.5 billion in a bid to resuscitate the
country's ailing dairy industry, the company's chief executive officer
Anthony Mandiwanza said this week.

      Mandiwanza said the move, which would result in the national herd
increasing by 30 percent, was part of wide plans to halt further decline in
milk production.

      Instead, he expects milk output to increase by an average 10 percent
every year in the next three years. The heifers will be bought from southern
Africa.

      "Dairibord Zimbabwe Limited is working hard together with other
stakeholders to resuscitate the dairy industry," Mandiwanza told the
Financial Gazette.

      He said under the revival plan, the DZL would broaden the milk supply
base by aiding emerging black farmers, both large and small-scale,
countrywide.

      The formerly state-owned milk processing firm will also assist in the
procurement of equipment and stockfeeds that are critical to the dairy
industry.

      "The plan is aimed at holding the current supplier base from further
erosion and to establish sources of growth in the coming three years. This
initiative required a deliberate proactive approach focusing on medium to
long-term strategies to make the plan successful," Mandiwanza said.

      According to the National Association of Dairy Farmers (NADF),
commercial milk output in Zimbabwe has declined from 188.8 million litres in
2000 to 169.5 million litres last year. This year's production is projected
to tumble further to141.3 million litres.

      Most of the milk is produced by white commercial farmers, who have
been unable to farm to capacity because of state price controls on milk and
being dispossessed of their land by the government or its supporters under
ongoing land reforms.

      Two weeks ago NADF chairman Stoff Hawgood said the dairy sector had
lost a substantial number of farmers, with many of them choosing to quit
because they were unsure whether they would keep their land or lose it to
the government.

      Mandiwanza said the decline in milk output had hit DZL's export drive.

      The company exports processed milk products to southern and east
African countries such as Botswana, Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique.

      From revenue generated from exports, the DZL is able to import
packaging and other raw materials critical to its operations.

      "Revenues generated from exporting are imperative for the importation
of inputs which include packaging and other raw materials required by the
company's operations," Mandiwanza said.
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From ZWNEWS, 25 July
 
Class of 72
 
The full list of 72 individuals on the EU banned list:

Cabinet Ministers

Muzenda, Simon Vengesai: Vice President, born 28.10.1922; Msika, Joseph: Vice President, born 6.12.1923; Makoni, Simbarashe: Minister of Finance, born 22.3.1950; Murerwa, Herbert: Minister for Industry and International Trade, born 31.7.1941; Mujuru, Joyce: Minister for Rural Resources and Water, born 15.4.1955; Moyo, July: Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister, born 7.5.1950; Chigwedere, Aeneas: Education, Sports and Culture Minister, born 25.11.1939; Stamps, Timothy: Health and Child Welfare Minister, born 15.10.1936; Mombeshora, Swithun: Transport and Communications Minister, born 20.8.1945; Chindori-Chininga, Edward: Mines and Energy Minister, born 14.3.1955; Nhema, Francis: Environment and Tourism Minister, born 17.4.1959; Mumbengegwi, Samuel: Higher Education and Technology Minister, born 23.10.1942; Nyoni, Sithembiso: Minister of State, Informal Sector, born 20.9.1949; Muchena, Olivia: Minister of State in Vice-President Msika’s Office, born 18.8.1946; Buka, Flora: Minister of State in Vice-President Muzenda’s office, born 25.2.1968

Politburo Senior Committee members and Secretaries

Senior Committee Members

Dabengwa, Dumiso: born 1939; Mujuru, Solomon: born 1949; Nkomo, Stephen: born 1925; Mugabe, Sabina; Muzenda, Tsitsi

Secretaries

Karimanzira, David: Secretary for Finance, born 25.5.1947; Mutasa, Didymus: Secretary for External relations, born 27.7.1935; Shamuyarira, Nathan: Secretary for Information and Publicity, born 29.9.1928; Tungamirai, Joseph: Secretary for Employment and Indigenisation, born 8.10.1948; Ndlovu, Naison: Secretary for Production and Labour; Hove, Richard: Secretary for Economic Affairs, born 1935; Muchinguri, Oppah: Secretary for Gender and Culture, born 14.2.1958; Masuku, Angeline: Secretary for Disabled and Disadvantaged Persons Welfare; Sikhosana, Absolom: Secretary for Youth Affairs; Lesabe, Thejiwe: Secretary for Women’s Affairs, born 1933; Chikowore, Enos: Secretary for Land and Resettlement, born 1936

Cabinet Deputy Ministers

Kuruneri, Christopher: Deputy Minister, Finance and Economic Development, born 4.4.1949; Ncube, Abednico: Deputy Minister, Foreign Affairs, born 13.10.1954; Mohadi, Kembo: Deputy Minister, Local Government, Public Works and National Housing; Shumba, Isaiah: Deputy Minister, Education, Sports and Culture, born 3.1.1949; Parirenyatwa, David: Deputy Minister, Health and Child Welfare, born 2.8.1950; Mangwana, Paul: Deputy Minister, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, born 10.8.1961; Mushohwe, Christopher: Deputy Minister, Transport and Communications, born 6.2.1954; Mahofa, Shuvai: Deputy Minister, Youth Development, Gender and Employment Creation, born 4.4.1941; Gumbo, Rugare: Deputy Minister, Home Affairs, born 8.3.1940

Politburo Deputy Secretaries

Mangwende, Witness: Deputy-Secretary for Administration, born 1946; Tawengwa, Solomon: Deputy-Secretary for Finance; Ndlovu, Sikhanyiso: Deputy-Secretary for Commissariat, born 20.9.1949; Mpofu, Obert: Deputy-Secretary for National Security, born 12.10.1951; Moyo, Simon Khaya: Deputy-Secretary for Legal Affairs, born 1945; Malinga, Joshua: Deputy-Secretary for Disabled and Disadvantaged; Madzongwe, Edna: Deputy-Secretary for Production and Labour, born 11.7.1943; Sakupwanya, Stanley: Deputy-Secretary for Health and Child Welfare; Pote, S M: Deputy-Secretary for Gender and Culture; Kasukuwere, Saviour: Deputy-Secretary for Youth Affairs, born 23.10.1970; Mathuthu, T: Deputy-Secretary for Transport and Social Welfare

Other

Mugabe, Grace: Spouse of Robert Mugabe, born 1965

The EU list of sanctioned officials already applied to twenty individuals effective 18 February 2002:

Mugabe, Robert: President; Utete, Charles: Cabinet Secretary; Mnangagwa, Emmerson: Speaker of Parliament; Nkomo, John: Minister of Home Affairs; Goche, Nicholas: Minister of State Security; Manyika, Elliot: Minister for Youth, Gender and Employment Creation; Moyo, Jonathan: Minister of Information; Charamba, George: Information Minister’s permanent secretary and spokesman; Chinamasa, Patrick: Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs; Made, Joseph: Minister of Agriculture; Chombo, Ignatius: Minister of Local Government; Mudenge, Stan: Minister of Foreign Affairs; Chiwewe, Willard: Senior Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Zvinavashe, Vitalis: General (Chief of the Defence Staff); Chiwenga, Constantine: Lieutenant-General (Army); Shiri, Perence: Air Marshal (Air Force); Chihuri, Augustine: Commissioner (Police); Muzonzini, Elisha: Brigadier (Intelligence); Zimondi, Paradzai: Prisons chief; Sekeramayi, Sidney: Minister of Defence.
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FinGaz

      Manufacturers tell govt to stop being arrogant

      Staff Reporter
      7/25/02 8:32:23 PM (GMT +2)

      ZIMBABWE'S major manufacturers want the government to return to good
governance and do away with arrogance which they say has contributed to the
country's isolation by the international community, says a survey released
this week.

      The survey was conducted from February to July this year by the
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI), which represents the country's
major manufacturers, to determine the impact of Zimbabwe's economic crisis
on local firms.

      It involved 97 companies across the country.

      Most manufacturers said the government should move quickly to improve
the hostile operating business climate, return to good governance and stop
being arrogant.

      "Policy measures proposed by companies (include) a return to good
governance and the rule of law, removal of arrogance which is promoting
isolation of the country (and) to get farmers back on the land and address
the agriculture issue constructively," the survey said.

      It said 100 manufacturing companies were liquidated in 2001, resulting
in the loss of at least 3 500 permanent jobs. This compares to 400 companies
which folded in 2000 with the loss of 10 000 jobs.

      According to the survey, some companies which shut down last year had
done so without filing for formal liquidation or had not yet been processed
by liquidators, thereby giving a conservative figure of 100.

      It is estimated that many more companies outside the manufacturing
sector closed their operations because of Zimbabwe's unstable economic
climate marked by record high inflation, foreign currency shortages and
widening poverty.

      The CZI, representing the interests of 700 manufacturers, said the
trend of firm closures in the manufacturing sector had continued "but at a
slower pace than in 2000".

      "It is important to note that these closures refer only to the
manufacturing sector and not services, agriculture or mining (as) there have
been various reports from other sectors of large numbers of closures in the
tourism and non-financial sectors but these were not covered in the study."

      Companies in the downstream agriculture industry were hit hard by
disturbances in the key sector while mining suffered from low international
metal prices.

      Tourism, once touted as the future hard cash earner, suffered from
falling numbers of foreign tourists visiting Zimbabwe because of uncertainty
about the country's future.

      The survey shows that the clothing industry was the hardest hit, with
23 firms filing for liquidation last year, throwing 500 permanent workers
and 4 000 contract workers out of their jobs.

      Nineteen food processing firms were liquidated, resulting in 1 590 job
losses.

      According to the CZI survey, output levels in the manufacturing sector
declined by between 10 and 15 percent. Zimbabwe's export earnings are also
expected to decline to US$1.45 billion from US$1.715 billion last year.

      The decline comes at a time when Zimbabwe is facing a crippling
foreign currency crisis, which has hit most manufacturers and all sectors of
the economy.

      Most companies blamed Zimbabwe's runaway inflation of more than 100
percent and the fixed exchange rate for their worsening woes. They said the
government must correct these, plus its broader fiscal and monetary policies
and remove price controls.

      Up to 40 percent of the firms surveyed were affected by price
controls, especially those in baking, sugar and cooking oil processing and
grains milling.

      The paper and packaging sector recorded a decline in the demand of its
products.

      The CZI study said 31 percent of those surveyed had been forced to
reduce working hours in order to reduce labour costs and avoid massive
retrenchments.

      The cost of imported and local inputs soared by up to 280 percent
between 2000 and 2001, seriously affecting the viability of most
manufacturers, it said.
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FinGaz

      Nkomo pleads with war vets


      7/25/02 8:30:56 PM (GMT +2)

      BULAWAYO - ZANU PF's national chairman John Nkomo has raised eyebrows
by pleading with rogue war veterans in Tsholotsho, Matabeleland North
province, to open council offices they have illegally closed since April.

      Instead Nkomo, who is also Home Affairs Minister, asked the veterans
to iron out their differences with council officials to enhance the ruling
party's chances of winning council elections in September.

      The government squares up against the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) in the polls in Matabeleland North on September 28
and 29.

      "In the interest of the government and the ruling party, you must iron
out these differences that have seen the offices closed on several
occasions," Nkomo pleaded with the veterans late last week, much to the
surprise of villagers who had expected him to simply order that the offices
be reopened and the veterans arrested.

      Nkomo added: "We need to work together to ensure that the party stays
and survives."

      The Tsholotsho rural district council offices have remained closed
since April this year when the veterans ordered them shut and "dismissed"
council workers.

      The offices were re-opened after Nkomo's pleas.

      ZANU PF has lost to the MDC almost every election held in the
Matabeleland region since the opposition party was formed three years ago.

      Ruling party militants and self-declared veterans have in the past two
years unleashed chaos across the country, shutting down government offices
and chasing away teachers and health workers who they accuse of supporting
the MDC.

      To date none of the veterans or militants have been jailed for
illegally closing government offices or attacking state workers.

      In January this year workers at Tsholotsho council offices were forced
to flee their work place by the veterans and ZANU PF officials who accused
them of frustrating the government's land reform programme.

      Three months later, the veterans and a few villagers who support the
ruling party returned to sack the entire district council, accusing it of
delaying payments for work they had done under the government's
food-for-work programme.

      Both ZANU PF and the MDC are fielding candidates in all the 140
council seats that are being contested in the province. - Staff Reporter
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FinGaz

Comment

      Wheels come off


      7/25/02 7:20:50 PM (GMT +2)

      THE wheels of the nation ship of Zimbabwe have clearly come off.
Nothing dramatises this fact more than the government's contemptuous
dismissal - in fact outright rejection - of the lawful jailing of Justice
Minister Patrick Chinamasa.

      As we write this comment, Chinamasa had still to start serving his
mandatory sentence of three months for contempt of court handed down last
Wednesday by a High Court judge appointed by none other than the government.

      When a country descends to levels where Cabinet ministers or anyone at
all decides which court ruling to obey or disobey and police are instructed
to act accordingly, then all in the land are in serious trouble, their
rights at the sole mercy of the all-supreme state.

      In simple terms, this means that the law of the jungle has taken over.
But how will this administration respond when, as is bound to happen,
ordinary Zimbabweans start following Chinamasa's example and refuse to obey
lawful court rulings?

      Chinamasa's actions - of publicly ridiculing his arrest warrant, of
threatening the presiding judge with a misconduct probe and now of not
complying with his jail terms - are not only a travesty of justice but a
mockery of the rule of law.

      Tragically, his actions have been magnified by the fact that he is the
minister in charge of the justice delivery system in the country and, as a
legal practitioner, he should have known better than most.

      But what do Zimbabweans get?

      A blistering attack on the court ruling by Information Minister
Jonathan Moyo, who also cast aspersions on the integrity of High Court judge
Justice Fergus Blackie for his judgment.

      Moyo branded the ruling "shocking, outrageous and sinister" and
accused Justice Blackie of staging kangaroo courts and of being a crude
white racist.

      Then, in a telling statement bound to hound the government over claims
it respects and observes the rule of law, a mere civil servant in the name
of David Mangota - Chinamasa's permanent secretary - proclaimed the judgment
as null and void!

      In Mangota's words, as reported by the Herald: "The sentence imposed
on the minister therefore has no force or effect."

      No wonder why Chinamasa, reportedly out of Zimbabwe at the time of the
ruling but now back in the country, has not started serving his sentence and
may indeed not do so.

      This is because we now have civil servants who have virtually taken
over the role of the courts, pronouncing on the validity or lack of it of
any court ruling.

      This is nothing short of judicial chaos meant to cause alarm and
despondency among Zimbabweans.

      And yet the rules are clear for all. Chinamasa should have been in
jail the moment his sentence was passed. Even if he appealed against the
sentence or sought bail, he would have had to do this behind bars, just like
any other prisoner.

      The fact that he was out of Zimbabwe suggests that his defence team
would have had to launch an appeal against his sentence while he was outside
so that he would still be a free man on return, assuming that his right to
appeal would have been granted.

      This negates the very essence of the rule of law and has serious
implications on the public's confidence in Zimbabwe's justice system.

      But as pointed out earlier, we now have more government officials,
apart from Chinamasa, seemingly queuing up to be hauled before the courts
for possibly similar or even more serious contempt of court charges
following their outbursts against the ruling on Chinamasa.

      The statements by Moyo and Mangota, at least on the surface, appear to
be actionable but that determination must be left to the lawful courts of
the land.

      What infuriates all right-thinking Zimbabweans is the fact that some
within the land, just because of their station in life, want to be more
equal than others before the law, a law made by this very government.

      This is unacceptable and does indeed reinforce the often-stated fact
that the rule of law sadly remains suspended in Zimbabwe.
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FinGaz

      Anger over Mugabe's controls on private, mission schools

      Staff Reporter
      7/25/02 8:27:16 PM (GMT +2)

      THE government will soon appoint senior civil servants to head all
Zimbabwean private and mission schools, which it has long accused of being
racist, according to an announcement by President Robert Mugabe this week.

      But officials from private schools immediately rejected the planned
move, saying it was unacceptable for the government to appoint school heads
when it did not make any contribution to the running and upkeep of the
schools.

      Opening parliament on Tuesday, Mugabe said the Education Act would be
amended in the current session to allow for the appointment of civil
servants as heads of private schools to root out what he termed as racism
and sectionalism.

      "A further amendment to the Act will provide for the appointment of
civil servants to head every school, whether public, mission or private,"
Mugabe said.

      "This measure will ensure the appointment of qualified heads in all
schools and guard against sectionalist and racist policies that continue to
be pursued."

      The government accuses private schools of charging exorbitant fees to
keep out black students. By appointing civil servants, it hopes to check
spiralling school fees increases and ensure that more black students study
at these schools.

      Rupert Wilkinson, the chairman of the Parent Liaison Committee at
Harare's Saint Johns College Preparatory School, said parents should have
the final say on the running of the private schools because they pay for
their upkeep and the head's salary.

      "It is in appropriate to do that and I don't think it is applicable,"
Wilkinson said. "If there is no contribution from the government, why should
they appoint a head?

      "People who control the school, that is the parents, should choose the
head."

      Boards of trustees or governors made up of parents usually run private
schools and appoint headmasters.

      Bevane Karadzandima, education secretary for the Anglican Church, said
the church would not mind its schools being led by civil servants as long as
the headmasters were Anglicans or Christians.

      "One thing that will be a problem will be to have someone not from our
church," Karadzandima told the Financial Gazette. "That would create discord
because we usually don't want someone from outside."

      A headmaster at a top private school near Harare said private schools
were already under scrutiny from the government, adding that the proposal
would be difficult to comply with.

      "I am very hesitant to comment because private schools are under
scrutiny," the headmaster said, preferring not to be named. "We are in a
very sensitive position but we will find it difficult to comply so we will
have to wait and see."

      In May this year, police questioned the headmaster of Harare's St
Georges College, Terence Tierman, after he wrote to parents castigating
Zimbabwe's widely condemned March presidential election.

      Engelbert Marume, the education secretary of the Roman Catholic Church
which runs missions schools nationwide, said although the Public Service
Commission employed headmasters, the church proposed the names of who should
be employed.

      "As long as the person is a Christian, we don't mind much," he said.

      "What we want is someone's ability to fit in with the religion, even
if that person is not a Catholic."

      He declined to comment specifically on the church's response to
Mugabe's declaration
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FinGaz

      Of dead heroes and live cowards

      Marko Phiri
      7/25/02 7:41:28 PM (GMT +2)

      INTEMPERANCE is naturally punished with disease; rashness with
mischance; injustice with violence of enemies; pride with ruin; cowardice
with oppression; and rebellion with slaughter, thus wrote Thomas Hobbes in
Leviathan way back in 1651.

      This has to be the most graphic "prophecy" to fit into the state that
Zimbabwe finds itself in today, some three and a half centuries later!

      At least this coming from the writings of one who did not claim the
status of Nostradamus, it can be taken in without all the suspicion that
clouded the "work" of the man who has been crowned the world's greatest
seer! And this because the observations made by Hobbes would fit into any
time and space, not the specifics of fortune-telling and some such
"pastime."

      From the intemperance here that has seen the exponential rise in AIDS
statistics, to the pride of the men at the helm that has sought to make
permanent the country's woes despite calls for logic and common-sense to
prevail and thus put the country on the recovery trail, these observations
by Hobbes surely find revelevance in present day Zimbabwe.

      However, it is the last two postulates that grab one's attention,
seeing the station we find ourselves in today in the politics of the land.

      While Zimbabweans have been berated for their docility amid gross
abuses of their freedoms by the ruling party, and what just appears to be
their inveterate cowardice, this "character flaw" has not been without good
reason.

      As Hobbes observed, for us here it then becomes a question of hether
"dedicated cadres" to this new challenge brave that storm and meet their
premature ends on the hands of the oppressor, or nurture that cowardice and
in the process entrench the oppression.

      The last 10 or so years have for us presented all the proof that
silence is never so golden as we have seen the violence ante being upped aga
inst all who do not seem too eager to agree with sentiments of the ruling
party.

      Yet if the people here are to decide enough is enough and take to the
streets, the result is quite obvious, as we have already seen with the
police taking the sides of the ruling party's supporters in clubbing
demonstrators into submission.

      That is the challenge for the people of this nation.

      So how do you strike a balance amid what seems to offer little or no
options because the possible outcomes of both choices given are not
something which one would enter into with their eyes wide open?

      In the absence of takers, what then becomes of a nation despite what
appears to be a consensus among the people that something needs to be done
to bring to an end that "oppression?"

      Could there be a convincing cure for the "cowardice" seeing what
guides people's decisions to participate or not participate in the rebellion
is the ever present threat of being slaughtered?

      Not many would be willing to hear of Zimbabwe getting back to its feet
through their "reincarnation," their second lives and which anyway could be
as anything but human beings, or prayers for the dead!

      They would in fact want that to "happen" during their lifetime!
      So, the focus meanwhile becomes, who will cast the first stone, or,
which mouse will put the bell on the cat's neck?

      Brilliant thought has emerged from the streets about how to effect
change, and also from the official opposition, but all these have exhibited
a lack of initiative as to who will take that bull by its horns such that
others will then pull its tail as it attempts to shake off the new age
matador?

      Many thought, perhaps naively so, that the change clamoured for could
come via the peaceful and universally approved means in the form of the
ballot, but alas, these came to naught. So it could well be asked that
outside that, what then is the effective alternative?
      Would it be entertaining the philosophy of pessimism when one says
Zimbabweans are lost for solutions therefore have to get used to the idea of
this
      miserable life as a permanent part of their lives for many decades to
come?

      After all how many initiatives, diplomatic and otherwise, have gone
the wayside in failed attempts to bring betterment to the people here? It is
not about the people's own failing though, but rather who has presented them
with that new challenge.

      Proud men who are not ready to see this as a country of 12
million-plus people, but have sought to entrench an unpopular oligarchy will
be obdurate till the hour of their crossover to the other life.

      It once again brings us to Hobbes when he says pride is naturally
punished with ruin, which anyway is also what religion teaches. After all
that trait is listed as one of the seven deadly sins, so because of the
pride of the people lording it over us, the "fruits" of that pride have been
visited on poor Zimbabweans!

      Pride will not permit one who has erred in a major or minor way to eat
humble pie: that for them is plain poisonous! But alongside that pride has
been what suspiciously looks like congenital cowardice that has seen the
tightening of the screws such that dissent becomes a capital offence, and
not many are willing yet to be martyrs to a cause whose victory is clearly
not guaranteed.

      After the shooting of the cabby in June, imagine the treatment one who
volitionally takes part in a march for democracy would get. It is those
thoughts that meanwhile make active politics for many here an occupation of
foolhardy daredevils.

      At least the live cowards pooled their meagre resources and flew out
of
      cuckooland. None is ready yet to be dead hero.

      Marko Phiri is a Zimbabwean student of journalism
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FinGaz

Chefs wipe out forex

By Sydney Masamvu Political Editor
7/25/02 8:22:34 PM (GMT +2)

SEVERAL Cabinet ministers and top officials of the ruling ZANU PF are being
squeezed by sanctions slapped by the European Union (EU) and are scrambling
for meagre foreign currency in Zimbabwe to pay fees for their children
studying abroad, it was established yesterday.

Banking and government sources confirmed that most Cabinet ministers and
members of ZANU PF's supreme Politburo were jostling for the limited hard
cash that is available, wiping it out from indigenous commercial banks most
of the times.

The leaders were raiding banks in which the government has a shareholding or
where the individual politicians had a stake.

"We have been assisting a lot of politicians with foreign currency for
school fees for their children abroad, using the little foreign currency
that we manage to lay our hands on," one senior banking source told the
Financial Gazette.

"A majority of them have been experiencing severe difficulties in fulfilling
this obligation in time because of the current economic and political
problems. In some instances, we have had to make exclusive arrangements for
them to take the hard cash that comes through."

Children of most Cabinet ministers and ZANU PF officials study in the West,
especially in the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and Canada -
countries which have taken a tough line against Zimbabwean leaders over the
country's bloated human rights record.

Official sources say most ZANU PF politicians hit by the sanctions are
making frantic efforts to transfer their children from overseas to complete
their studies at colleges and universities in South Africa, where the
leaders have transferred their foreign bank accounts.

Others want to bring their children back home.

The politicians have been sourcing scarce foreign currency at the official
exchange rate from Zimbabwean banks, a privilege not enjoyed by members of
the public.

"By a directive, we recently gave one senior Cabinet minister and Politburo
member US$10 000 cash at the official exchange for school fees for his
children who are in the US," one bank manager said.

"We had to call up all our resources which we had at our various branches to
ensure that the minister got the foreign currency," the manager said. "We
handle many similar cases of this nature."

The Financial Gazette cannot however disclose the names of the individual
politicians involved because of the standard bank-client confidentiality.

It is understood that most commercial banks, if and whenever they have the
hard cash, usually trade it on the thriving parallel market rate.

The sources said some ZANU PF leaders had resorted to employing touts to
purchase foreign currency on the parallel market to augment their resources
while others were using fronts to run foreign currency bureaux at major
Zimbabwean tourist resorts.

The government has itself been accused of mobilising hard cash from the
parallel mark to finance its many official trips.

President Robert Mugabe, fresh from a four-day visit to Cuba, this week
attacked the country's banks which he accused of fuelling the foreign
currency crisis by allegedly engaging in illegal transactions.

He ruled out a devaluation of the Zimbabwe dollar, which Reserve Bank
governor Leonard Tsumba, Finance Minister Simba Makoni and most economists
agree is highly over-valued.

The local dollar is pegged at $55 against one American dollar, although it
trades at more than $600 on the parallel market. The dollar is also fixed
against the currencies of Britain, South Africa and Botswana - among
Zimbabwe's major trading partners.

The EU this week slapped the entire ZANU PF Politburo, Cabinet ministers,
deputy ministers and deputy Politburo members, Grace Mugabe and many other
government functionaries with a travel ban and asset freeze, including their
bank accounts.

Alex Kremer, first secretary of the EU delegation in Harare, said yesterday
the EU policy on ZANU PF politicians was not yet to target their spouses and
children.

The US, New Zealand, Switzerland and Canada have similar measures in place.

Western diplomats said they could not rule out the possibility of sanctions
being slapped on the leaders' spouses and children, as well as on foreign
companies which are being used by ZANU PF to try to evade the overseas asset
freeze.
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FinGaz

      Nation suffers from impasse of perception

      Brian Kagoro
      7/25/02 7:38:25 PM (GMT +2)

      PERHAPS the most intransigent problem in post-colonial Zimbabwe
remains an inadequate understanding of the processes that have culminated in
the current crises of governance and legitimacy.

      There is no doubt that the legitimacy of the incumbent is seriously
disputed and so are a whole host of his government's policies and actions.
Cases in point are the fiscal and monetary policies; land and company
invasion policies; food and the human rights policies.

      Others have suggested that after the Nathan Shamuyarira days, Zimbabwe
has had no coherent foreign policy but rather gone through a plethora of
diplomatic blunders.

      What follows represents an attempt to look at the conundrum of
post-colonial Zimbabwe from the perspective of democratisation, especially
with regard to the nature of the state and governance.

      One of the few points of indisputable consensus among Zimbabweans is
that our country is in a state of crisis. On this point even ZANU PF and
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) are agreed, although they differ in
their articulation of the causes of the crisis.

      What eludes everybody, including civil society, is an appreciation of
the fact that the crisis is multi-layered and thus requires a multi-pronged
solution. It would appear that the nation is gripped with a pervasive
impasse of perception as to what should be done to take Zimbabwe out of the
throes of its present dilemma?

      The origins and nature of Zimbabwean crisis

      The Zimbabwean crisis is a confluence of several colonial and
post-independence experiences, namely:

      lA violent and fraudulent process of colonisation that de-humanised
black people and characterised their past as barren of innovation and
achievement; denigrated their culture as atavistic and their intellect as
infantile; a violent and hegemonic struggle for de-colonisation that
culminated in a largely symbolic independence devoid of material gain;

      lA failure by the independence leadership to transform the repressive
colonial state into a democratic people-friendly institution. Related to
this is the failure by liberation movements to transform into democratic
governments and thereby deliver on the independence promise of freedom;

      lThe dismal IMF/World Bank neo-liberal economic policies that had a
very weak human development component .The concomitant mass production of
black poverty, corruption and under-development as well the crisis of global
capitalism;

      lThe capture of the state by a corrupt, self-seeking and authoritarian
political elite; and

      lThe contradictory nature of neo-liberal democracy that prescribed the
weakening of the state when the human developmental deficits accumulated
during the colonial and cold-war era required an interventionist state. This
has, in part, compounded the inability of the state to effect redistribution
of resources in a coherent and orderly manner. Hence the crisis of
legitimacy referred to above.

      lA failure of post-independence leadership - patronage systems based
on region, tribe and political affiliation have led to the demise of
meritocracy. These systems have turned mediocrity into a virtue and ethics
into a swear word. Zimbabwe is a nation of accomplices joined together by
tribe, region, political affiliation and war credentials. Government,
amongst other vices, specialises in covers and cover-ups. It is for this
reason that a justice system manned by kinsman and party cadres is as evil
as the Rhodesian system that was skin-tight.

      These broad factors have had their most dramatic manifestations in the
following:

      lEndemic political violence and gross human rights violations at the
behest of the state or political elite. No access to justice for the
unconnected;

      lUnbridled corruption; asset stripping and poor stewardship over
national resources. In fact their privatisation by the political elite in
government;

      lTerminal levels of both de jure and de facto impunity for various
types of criminals. The most evident symptoms of this is the disregard of
the doctrine of separation of powers and the general breakdown in the rule
of law.

      lState arms of terror have assumed a status above the law and have
thus effectively become a parallel government - invading farms, companies,
NGOs and heaven knows what else?

      lBad politics is productive of declining economies, misery and
despondency. This leads to capital flight and fatal levels of brain drain as
young professionals seek out less troubled waters to fish in. At its worst
it leads to civil strife.

      lIncreased militarisation of the state in a time of relative peace.

      Expropriation of the peasantry through coercion of an economic and
physical nature - the use of food as a political weapon in engaging starving
communities. The related failure of the fast track land programme to
transform the contradictions in the agrarian sector by effectively dealing
with questions of access to credit and inputs; tenure and traditional
leaders' role in transformed agrarian relations.


      These and numerous other democratic deficits cannot be cured by mass
demonstrations alone nor by simply replacing the political elite. They
require a transformation of the framework of governance. Hence the calls for
constitutional reform. This is not to miss the point that a stolen election
requires, as a starting point, an election re-run. Demanding an election
re-run does not have to be feasible in order to be legitimate.

      Equally so, the demand for a new constitution does not need to be
feasible in order to be legitimate. Demands for democratisation are not
bench-marked using their likelihood of success but rather the extent of
people's desire for the same. Clearly for many who spent in excess of 10
hours in voting queues, the matter of the stolen election is not secondary
to any other. However, to assume that an election held under the current
constitution, in the absence of a compelling intervening factor, would
deliver any different result is naive. It seems equally naive to assume that
a regime that tried to hijack the constitutional reform process in 1999 and
has blatantly refused to entertain the issue will do so now.

      Constitutions alone are not a panacea to hyperinflation, skewed
economic policies, redundant populism, endemic corruption and the violent
disposition in our politics. In fact, the current British -ZANU PF
constitution outlaws political violence, electoral fraud and intimidation.

      Mugabe has no constitutional power to do half the things that his
supporters did in order to get him declared president. War veterans have no
constitutional right to fire and hire civil servants. But these were done in
spite of and despite the existence of constitutional and legal provisions to
the contrary.

      This realisation must inevitably lead us to an uncomfortable
acceptance of the fact that the Zimbabwean crisis is not merely a result of
a poor constitution but the failure of constitutionalism. The first 15
mutilations to the Lancaster House ceasefire document were not designed to
deliver land to the landless. In fact, the first eight amendments after 1990
had absolutely nothing to do with empowering the people but rather the
creation of an imperial president.

      We must also accept that the political elite in this country has
always behaved like power alcoholics oblivious of the true plight of the
masses. Having done so we must credit the political elite for its capacity
to manipulate social forces in such a manner that there has never been a
sustained national scrutiny of its conduct and crude accumulation of wealth.
This political elite has been perfect at appropriating the rhetoric of the
poor and making it its own.

      T ragically poor war veterans and peasants have even believed that
there is a genuineness to such rhetoric despite the glaring evidence to the
contrary.

      We should be mobilising the masses to imagine freedom in ways that
entail, but are not limited to written documents. This will help to avoid
the fatalistic thinking that supposes that before there is a new
constitution there is no freedom. Such a thinking is as redundant as
thinking that before there is a new government no positive action can be
taken by the citizens.
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From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 25 July

MDC chief charged with wife's murder

Harare - Surrounded by armed riot police, the official spokesman of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change appeared in court yesterday in leg irons to face a charge of murdering his wife. Learnmore Jongwe, 28, told Harare magistrates' court that he stabbed his wife, Rutendo, 23, in a frenzy of jealousy after finding her having sex on a desk in a lawyer's office last week. Jongwe said the stabbing took place at their home in Harare later that day but he denied intending to kill his wife of 11 months. He went on the run for two days before giving himself up to police. According to well placed sources in the party, if Jongwe does not resign from the executive, his job as spokesman and his parliamentary seat, he will be told to leave. Scores of young supporters gathered at the court for a glimpse of their former hero. "We are so shocked," said a law student who did not want to be identified. "He was so brilliant and now he has brought shame to himself and this has damaged the party." Jongwe, from a rural peasant family, was a student activist at the University of Zimbabwe, where he took a law degree. He resigned his job with a legal firm to start working for the party shortly before parliamentary elections two years ago. Zimbabwe's official media have seized on the killing to claim repeatedly that it proves the opposition party is a violent organisation.
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FinGaz

      Chinamasa 3-month jail term suspended


      7/25/02 8:21:38 PM (GMT +2)

      HIGH Court judge Justice Annele Matika yesterday suspended the
three-month jail term imposed on Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa for
contempt of the court and gave the court's lawyers 10 days to show cause why
his latest ruling should not be upheld.

      The judge, who heard the matter in chambers after Chinamasa filed an
urgent appeal against the judgment slapped on him by Justice Fergus Blackie
last Wednesday, also suspended a warrant of arrest imposed on the minister.

      Chinamasa was slapped with a three-month custodial sentence and fined
$50 000 last week after he was found guilty of two charges of bringing the
judiciary into disrepute.

      The charges arose from utterances the minister made following a 1999
judgment in which Justice Mahomed Adam sentenced three American citizens to
six months' imprisonment for illegal possession of arms.

      Chinamasa's lawyer, James Muzangaza of Muzangaza, Mandaza and Tomana,
said yesterday that Justice Matika's ruling means that the police cannot
execute the warrant of arrest on Chinamasa until the case is finalised.

      "The lawyers representing the High Court have 10 days in which to file
opposing papers and, in the event that they fail to do so, the case will go
back to court for cancellation of the earlier judgment," he told the
Financial Gazette.

      No comment was available from the High Court's lawyers yesterday.

      - Staff Reporter
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FinGaz

      EU bans Mujuru, Dabengwa

      By David Masunda Deputy Editor-in-Chief
      7/25/02 8:20:57 PM (GMT +2)

      RETIRED army generals Solomon Mujuru and Josiah Tungamirai, former
Cabinet minister Dumiso Dabengwa and all other members of ZANU PF's supreme
Politburo body are now on the expanded list of Zimbabweans blacklisted by
the European Union (EU) this week, it has been established.

      Sources said the trio - all former top guerillas in Zimbabwe's 1970s
independence war - had joined President Robert Mugabe, his wife Grace, the
entire Cabinet and some of their spouses on the blacklist of officials
facing travel bans and an asset freeze by the world's richest trading bloc.

      Mujuru, a Politburo committee member, and Tungamirai - its secretary
for indigenisation and economic empowerment - were appointed the first black
commanders of the army and the air force after Zimbabwe attained
independence from Britain in 1980. Although now in retirement, both still
actively participate in ZANU PF's party affairs.

      Mugabe appoints all members of the 20-plus Politburo, a secretive and
supreme decision-making organ of the governing ZANU PF.

      Foreign ministers of the 15-nation EU this week voted to add 52 new
names to a list of 20 leading ZANU PF and government officials slapped with
sanctions just before the controversial March presidential election that the
international community alleges was stolen by Mugabe, a charge the
Zimbabwean leader denies.

      Mugabe's two deputies, Simon Muzenda and Joseph Msika, mysteriously
left out of the original blacklist, have also been targeted as well as
spouses of affected officials, junior government officers such as deputy
ministers and assistant Politburo secretaries.

      Among little-known or forgotten Zimbabwean politicians whose names now
appear on the EU blacklist are the likes of Absalom Sikhosana, ZANU PF's
secretary for youth, and former energy minister Enos Chikowore, forced to
resign two years ago when corruption at the state-run National Oil Company
of Zimbabwe led to a crippling fuel shortage.

      Chikowore, a close confidante of Mugabe who has kept out of the
limelight since his ignominious exit from the government in February 2000,
is the Politburo's secretary for resettlement.

      Meanwhile, regional analysts and Zimbabwean opposition politicians
have welcomed the extension of the EU ban to include Politburo members,
spouses of senior ZANU PF officials and the rest of Mugabe's Cabinet.

      They said while Zimbabwean authorities were at home painting a picture
of the EU and United States sanctions as having been largely ineffectual, it
was clear that the measures were indeed affecting morale within the
governing party.

      "Of course the sanctions are biting," opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) secretary-general Welshman Ncube told the Financial
Gazette.

      "ZANU PF and government officials are now unable to go wherever they
want to go," added Ncube, who welcomed the extended list but urged the EU to
constantly upgrade it and widen it to include those that might have escaped
the net.

      He said the problem of the effectiveness of original blacklist was
that it had left out ministers such as Herbert Murerwa and Simba Makoni who,
he said, continued to travel to Europe on government business, thereby
defying the travel ban.

      "Sooner or later, ZANU PF will have to say we need to stop this
madness which has made us get treated this way by the rest of the world,"
Ncube observed.

      Chris Maroleng of the Pretoria-based South Africa Institute of
Security Studies said the expansion of the EU blacklist was a "very strong
symbolic" gesture that the West continued to view ZANU PF's actions on
issues of human rights and democracy in bad light.

      "The intention of the sanctions is to send a clear message to the ZANU
PF regime that their actions are not going to be tolerated," Maroleng told
the Financial Gazette by telephone from Pretoria.

      He said the EU would encounter difficulties in tracing any loot that
might belong to the blacklisted Zimbabweans because there had been a flight
of capital from Western banking areas such as Switzerland to East Asian
nations like Malaysia when the sanctions were mooted last year.
http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/pressreleases/2002/084.htm



News Release
- Financial Sanctions: Zimbabwe

25 July 2002

With the publication of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1345/2002 in the
Official Journal of the European Communities on 25 July 2002, the financial
sanctions regime against various individual members of the Government of
Zimbabwe has been extended to cover all remaining Cabinet Ministers,
Politburo Secretaries, Deputy Ministers, Assistant Secretaries of the
Politburo and Grace Mugabe, the spouse of Robert Mugabe.

The Bank of England, on behalf of HM Treasury, therefore announces that with
effect from 25 July 2002 all funds, other financial assets and economic
resources belonging to the persons listed below must be frozen. No funds,
other financial assets and economic resources are to be made available
directly or indirectly to or for the benefit of them. Financial institutions
must check whether they maintain any account for the individuals named below
and, if so, they should freeze the accounts and report the accounts and
amounts frozen to the Bank of England.

The following have been added to the list of those subject to the sanctions
regime:

Individuals

1. MUZENDA, Simon Vengesai, Vice President, born 28.10.1922

2. MSIKA, Joseph, Vice President, born 6.12.1923

3. MAKONI, Simbarashe, Minister of Finance, born 22.3.1950

4. MURERWA, Herbert, Minister for Industry and International Trade, born
31.7.1941

5. MUJURU, Joyce, Minister for Rural Resources and Water, born 15.4.1955

6. MOYO, July, Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister, born
7.5.1950

7. CHIGWEDERE, Aeneas, Education, Sports and Culture Minister, born
25.11.1939

8. STAMPS, Timothy, Health and Child Welfare Minister, born 15.10.1936

9. MOBESHORA, Swithun, Transport and Communications Minister, born 20.8.1945

10. CHINDORI-CHININGA, Edward, Mines and Energy Minister, born 14.3.1955

11. NHEMA, Francis, Environment and Tourism Minister, born 17.4.1959

12. MUMBENGEGWI, Samuel, Higher Education and Technology Minister, born
23.10.1942

13. NYONI, Sithembiso, Minister of State, Informal Sector, born 20.9.1949

14. MUCHENA, Olivia, Minister of State in Vice-President Msika's Office,
born 18.8.1946

15. BUKA, Flora, Minister of State in Vice President Muzenda's Office, born
25.2.1968

16. DABENGWA, Dumiso, Senior Committee Member, born 1939

17. MUJURU, Solomon, Senior Committee Member, born 1949

18. NKOMO, Stephen, Senior Committee Member, born 1925

19. MUGABE, Sabina, Senior Committee Member, born 14.10.1934

20. MUZENDA, Tsitsi, Senior Committee Member

21. KARIMANZIRA, David, Secretary for Finance, born 25.5.1947

22. MUTASA, Didymus, Secretary for External Relations, born 27.7.1935

23. SHAMUYARIRA, Nathan, Secretary for Information and Publicity, born
29.9.1928

24. TUNGAMIRAI, Josiah, Secretary for Employment and Indigenisation, born
8.10.1948

25. NDLOVU, Naison, Secretary for Production and Labour, born 22.10.1930

26. HOVE, Richard, Secretary for Economic Affairs, born 1935

27. MUCHINGURI, Oppah, Secretary for Gender and Culture, born 14.12.1958

28. MASUKU, Angeline, Secretary for Disabled and Disadvantaged Person's
Welfare

29. SIKHOSANA, Absolom, Secretary for Youth Affairs

30. LESABE, Thenjiwe, Secretary for Women's Affairs, born 1933

31. CHIKOWORE, Enos, Secretary for Land and Resettlement, born 1936

32. KURUNERI, Christopher, Deputy Minister, Finance and Economic
Development, born 4.4.1949

33. NCUBE, Abedinico, Deputy Minister, Foreign Affairs, born 13.10.54

34. MOHADI, Kembo, Deputy Minister of Local Government, Public Works and
National Housing, born 15.11.1949

35. SHUMBA, Isaiah, Deputy Minister, Education, Sports and Culture, born
3.1.1949

36. PARIRENYATWA, David, Deputy Minister, Health and Child Welfare, born
2.8.1950

37. MANGWANA, Paul, Deputy Minister, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary
Affairs, born 10.8.1961

38. MUSHOHWE, Christopher, Deputy Minister, Transport and Communications,
born 6.2.1954

39. MAHOFA, Shuvai, Deputy Minister for Youth Development, Gender and
Employment Creation, born 4.4.1941

40. GUMBO, Rugare, Deputy Minister, Home Affairs, born 8.3.1940

41. MANGWENDE, Witness, Deputy-Secretary for Administration, born 1946

42. TAWENGWA, Solomon, Deputy-Secretary for Finance

43. NDLOVU, Sikhanyiso, Deputy-Secretary for Commissariat, born 20.9.1949

44. MPOFU, Obert, Deputy-Secretary for National Security, born 12.10.1951

45. MOYO, Simon Khaya, Deputy-Secretary for Legal Affairs, born 1945

46. MALINGA, Joshua, Deputy-Secretary for Disabled and Disadvantaged

47. MADZONGWE, Edna, Deputy-Secretary for Production and Labour, born
11.7.1943

48. SAKUPWANYA, Stanley, Deputy-Secretary for Health and Child Welfare

49. POTE, S M, Deputy-Secretary for Gender and Culture

50. KASUKUWERE, Saviour, Deputy-Secretary for Youth Affairs, born 23.10.1970

51. MATHUTHU, T, Deputy-Secretary for Transport and Social Welfare

52. MUGABE, Grace, Spouse of Robert Mugabe, born 23.7.1965
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FinGaz

      SA raises maize output

      Reuter
      7/25/02 7:24:04 PM (GMT +2)

      JOHANNESBURG - SOUTH Africa now estimates its 2001/02 maize crop at
8.781 million tonnes, up from 8.671 million tonnes estimated in June and
last year's 7.2 million tonnes, the Crop Estimate Committee said this week.

      Most of the harvest has been completed and yield figures are slightly
higher than those used to compile the June estimate.

      "Between 80 and 70 percent of the crop has been harvested, and the
actual yields that are coming up are marginally higher than what we used
previously," said committee chairman Rodney Dredge.

      "I don't think this figure is going to change next month because a
greater quantity of crop has been harvested already," he added.

      The white maize crop, a human staple, is now put at 5.066 million
tonnes versus an estimate of 5.003 million tonnes last month.

      Yellow maize, used mainly for animal feed, was put at 3.715 million
tonnes versus last month's estimate of 3.668 million tonnes.

      White maize yields in Mpumalanga province were raised to 3.6 tonnes
per hectare from 3.5 tonnes and to 2.6 tonnes from 2.55 tonnes in North West
province.

      The sunflower harvest was estimated at 840 040 tonnes compared with
last month's estimate of 822 490 tonnes and last year's output of 638 320
tonnes.

      The acreage of wheat for the 2002/03 season was put at 910 500
hectares. Farmers planted 959 400 hectares in the previous season to produce
2.493 million tonnes of wheat.
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Mugabe repays his foes with starvation

Andrew Meldrum sees how Zimbabwe's leader is using the state grain monopoly
and UN food aid for political ends

Thursday July 25, 2002
The Guardian

Sitting dejectedly on a wooden stool, Anderson Mupinda, 79 and blind, leans
his head against a walking stick. "The hunger makes me weak. From six in the
morning to six at night we don't have anything to eat. I haven't eaten a
proper meal for more than a week."
He lifts his ragged T-shirt to show the folds of skin across his
stomach."There is nothing there. We only have leaves to eat. We dry them and
then boil them with salt, but there is no salt. We eat them anyway."

In April the Mupinda family were given food by the UN World Food Programme.
"The food lasted for a month. We were supposed to get more, but when the
trucks came the war veterans chased them away," Mr Mupinda said.

"They said the food came from whites overseas who support the MDC [the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change]." He makes a clicking sound with
his mouth to show disgust. "What rubbish. They are keeping food away from us
because we support the MDC. They are starving us. The only way we can
survive is to get this man out and get a new government."

The government does not even deny that it is discriminating. Last weekend
the deputy foreign minister, Abednico Ncube, told a crowd in Matabeleland
that anyone who voted for the MDC could not expect to get food aid from the
government.

"Maize is in abundance but very soon it will be available only to those who
dump the opposition and work with Zanu-PF," the Zimbabwe Standard quoted him
saying. "The party will start feeding its children before turning to those
of MDC."

Living in the arid Hwange district in western Zimbabwe, Mr Mupinda is one of
the thousands of Zimbabweans already hungry because of the food shortage.
His plight is made worse by the fact that the area voted for the MDC leader,
Morgan Tsvangirai.

By September the famine will affect nearly six million Zimbabweans, by the
government's own estimates. Many may be denied food because they are
suspected of supporting the opposition.

In Binga, on the shore of Lake Kariba, Mr Mugabe's self-styled war veterans
have stopped distributing food to school children. "We have 115 tonnes of
fortified porridge which should be delivered to 28,000 students in all the
schools in this district," an official of the Catholic Commission for
Justice and Peace said. "But since May 25 the war veterans have prevented us
from distributing that food because they say it comes from the UK and it is
being used to support the opposition.

"How can five-year-old children know anything about politics? Our food is
just sitting in the warehouse and it is beginning to rot. That food was the
main meal for most schoolchildren in Binga district and now they are not
getting it. It is a crime."

Binga district hospital has recorded 27 deaths this year in which
malnutrition was a factor. "Most of those deaths were from malaria, but if
the children had enough food, many of them would have survived," a hospital
official said. "The situation is getting worse, not better."

It has taken only 30 war veterans with stones and wooden clubs to stop the
food being distributed, but the police refuse to take action against them.
"A small group of fanatics is holding this entire district hostage because
the police will not arrest them," said Joel Gabbuza Gabbuza, the local MDC
MP said.

The state grain marketing board (GMB) has a monopoly on imports and
wholesale trade in maize and wheat. Its depot in Binga sells maize at a
relatively affordable controlled price, but only to residents with
membership cards for Mr Mugabe's party, Zanu-PF. "The war veterans buy most
of the maize meal from the GMB and then they sell it at much higher prices,"
Mr Gabbuza said. Many believe that Binga has been singled out for starvation
because its people voted overwhelmingly for Mr Tsvangirai in the
presidential election in March, giving him 27,000 votes: the most he won in
any constituency. Mr Mugabe got 5,000.

"The government wants to punish us for that vote," Mr Gabbuza said.

Political violence has continued, he added. "My shop in Senga was destroyed
two weeks ago. Another shop was looted and burned last week. One of our
party officials was beaten and police do nothing to protect us. We do not
feel safe."

Binga is not unique. In Mberengwa, central Zimbabwe, the MDC says government
officials are preventing its members getting food from the WFP.

Much of the food comes from the British government, and British officials in
Harare say they are investigating the complaints. The high commission in
Harare said: "It is a fundamental principle for the British government, as
it is for the World Food Programme and the non-governmental organisations
with whom we work, that humanitarian assistance is apolitical, targeted at
those most in need.

"It is our collective responsibility to ensure that this principle is
adhered to on the ground and we are all working to fulfil that
responsibility. We believe that this approach is working.

"If there are any allegations of politicisation related to our assistance,
both we and WFP want to know about them. They will be investigated
promptly."

Judith Lewis, WFP's regional director, says there is "an army of food
monitors" to ensure that all the needy get food, not those with a ruling
party card. "We have conveyed to the government our zero-tolerance policy
for food aid abuse."

But Britain and the UN cannot assure fair sales of maize by the GMB.
First-hand reports have come from Harare, Bulawayo, Murehwa, Mutoko and
Chiredzi that people must produce Zanu-PF cards to buy maize. Others say
that people pointed out as MDC may be beaten in the queue or have their
maize seized. And despite numerous reports in the independent press the
government has not said it intends to change the policy.

In Hwange Anderson Mupinda rises from his stool and adroitly uses his
walking stick to locate a basket of dried leaves.

"I am sorry for you to see me like this. I only have these leaves to offer
you. The life that we are living here is like being in handcuffs and in
jail. It is hard to look at the future because we are so hungry."
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News24


      25/07/2002 13:26  - (SA)



Tsvangirai released


Harare - Zimbabwe police questioned opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on
Thursday over allegations that he tried to organise an unconstitutional
overthrow of President Robert Mugabe's government, his lawyer said.

Lawyer Innocent Chagonda said police allege Tsvangirai told a rally of his
Movement for Democratic Change in May - in the local Shona language - that
the opposition would plot against Mugabe.

He said Tsvangirai had not been formally charged.

"They are saying that in terms of section 5(2) of that Act (the Public Order
and Security Act) he's guilty of organising or setting up a group so that
the group in question would overthrow the government. Of course, my client
denies ever having said that statement," Chagonda told journalists outside
Harare Central police station.

"As far as we are concerned, the charge is totally baseless and in my
client's view it is actually an attempt to frustrate him politically. It's a
clear case of political victimisation," Chagonda added.

Tsvangirai, who was in the police station for more than an hour, declined to
comment.

Police were not immediately available for comment.

Formed in 1999, the MDC emerged as the strongest challenger to Mugabe's
ruling Zanu-PF party when it won nearly half the contested seats in
parliamentary elections held in June 2000.

The opposition says it would have won had it not been for a violent campaign
it blamed on ruling party supporters.

Tsvangirai, who is legally challenging Mugabe's victory in a presidential
poll in March, also faces charges of plotting to kill the president.

Mugabe has denied allegations by the opposition and many Western countries
that he fraudulently won in March.

The opposition accuses Mugabe of mismanaging the country since assuming
power at independence from Britain in 1980, leading to a political and
economic crisis currently showing itself in acute food shortages.

The government blames the food shortages solely on a drought, which slashed
output of the staple maize grain from small-scale farmers who produce about
70% of the crop.

Critics, however, point also to Mugabe's controversial drive to seize
white-owned commercial farms for redistribution to landless blacks and his
sanctioning of white farm invasions since February 2000 by militants loyal
to the government.

Mugabe blames Zimbabwe's crisis on sabotage by local and international
opponents whom he says want to oust him in retaliation for his land
redistribution programme.
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LOWVELD NEWS 24 / 7 /02.
 

Chiredzi South. (Maize food distribution.)
 
It seems that the maize food has slowed down even more to this area.
The MDC shadow MP for Chiredzi South Patrick Mapengo visited me on the 23rd and explained how the food distribution works there.
When a truckload arrives, the War vet committee in Chikombedzi immediately hijacks it. This committee was set up by the ZANU MP for Chiredzi South Aaron Baloyi, and the committee chairman is Morris Chishongi who works at Chikombedzi hospital as a sweeper
All the village headmen in this area submit a list of people in their villages who require food to the D.A. who in turn signs this list. This list is then taken to the war vet committee in Chikombedzi, for them to check for known MDC sympathises or supporters, if any are found, that village dose not get any maize.
An example is Ponyoka village where the MDC shadow MP lives, they have never been able to get any fairly distributed food yet.
 
Poaching.
 
Totally out of control and obviously made worse by the shortage and unfair food distribution.
There is no help against these criminals in this area from the police at all.
The Mwenezi court last week found Joseph Mashava  guilty of trapping a Sable on Marakanga Ranch and fined him $500-00 or 10 days in jail, this will not help at all.
 
Chiredzi North.
 
All donated Maize food for Chiredzi North & South comes to Chiredzi town, and is distributed to the rural areas by CHRITIAN CARE & WORLD VISION. The food is taken to growth centers in the rural areas similar to Chikombedzi in the Chiredzi South constituency. It is after gets to these centers that ZANU get hold of it.
The (GMB) Grain Marketing Board about 15 km out of town supplies the Maize food for the Chiredzi urban people. The commercial sector, Ranchers and Farmers make lists of their workers then have them stamped by the DA, then send trucks to wait sometimes for days at the GMB. Most times they get 10 x 50kg for 100 odd workers. Whilst waiting Chiredzi council tractors come in jump the cue, load up then leave for Chiredzi. After some investigation it was found that this maize was given to the ZANU shadow councilors to sell to gain favour for the Council elections which we will be having soon. It’s believed that at least 50% goes to these people.  MDC supporters can only get food through relatives who are, or claim to be ZANU supporters.
The ZANU shadow councilors who benefit from this, are Issac Rukatya, Machizo, Ronnie Ndaba, and Mrs Makonese.
 
Poaching.
 
Still very serious but the police are assisting with anti poaching in this area.
95% of poachers caught are the land invaders who now live on the ranchers, and if this carries on for another year there will not be any game left on private land.
Whilst the courts are lenient the poaching will not decrease.
 
Report ends.
 
WG
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This is London

Geldof blasts 'thug' Mugabe

by Patrick McGowan
Bob Geldof today described Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe as a murderous
thug and a madman for the way he has devastated his country.

Seventeen years after his first Live Aid appeal more than 14 million people
are facing starvation in Africa, many of them in formerly prosperous
Zimbabwe, which has been wrecked by Mr Mugabe's economic policies.

Speaking on the Today programme Mr Geldof said: "Mugabe is a murderous thug
but you cannot predict that this man is going to go completely mad and
devastate his own homeland.

"You can't predict he is going to cling to power at any cost even though
that cost is the lives of millions of his own countrymen."

In London today the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), which brings
together 13 aid agencies including the British Red Cross, Christian Aid,
Oxfam and Save the Children, launched a renewed appeal for food and medical
aid.

Brendan Gormley, DEC chief executive, said funding for a major aid operation
was urgently required to avert "a catastrophic famine".

He added: "The appeal will help fund health programmes, distribution of
seeds and tools to subsistencefarmers, and food aid for the most vulnerable.
There is still time to prevent the worst case scenario of death on a massive
scale."

The figure of 14 million potential victims is one of the highest estimates
yet of the number of people caught up in the famine.

The most seriously affected countries are Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi,
Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho and Angola.

The World Food Programme originally launched an appeal at the beginning of
July to raise more than £300million for the African countries but has only
received 22 per cent of the funding it needs from foreign governments.

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Articulate Benefits of Agrarian Reform



The Herald - govt mouthpiece (Harare)

July 25, 2002
Posted to the web July 25, 2002


PRESIDENT Mugabe has put the final nail on the devaluation coffin, bringing
to an end all the bickering over the issue.

Proponents of devaluation had magnified it to the extent that they cited it
as the major stumbling block to the country's economic turnaround.

Fortunately, the President did not mince his words on Tuesday when he
addressed MPs during the opening of the Fifth Session of Parliament.

He categorically labelled those who are advocating devaluation as
"saboteurs" or enemies of the State.

It is no secret that the most vocal proponents of devaluation are people who
would like to see the collapse of the Zimbabwean economy with the hope that
this would lead to the ousting of the ruling Zanu-PF Govern-ment.

Why would such people promote policies that will give value to a government
they have sworn to remove?

The issue of devaluation, we believe, was being used to crowd out solutions
to the real economic problems that have led to the emergence of the foreign
currency black market.

The entire nation's attention was being diverted to an issue that is simply
a symptom instead of focusing on the fundamentals that will result in
economic turnaround such as boosting exports and foreign currency earnings
from the mining, agriculture, manufacturing and tourism industries.

While the President spoke strongly against devaluation, we believe he should
have gone further to condemn the continued emphasis on economic policies of
the IMF and World Bank, which the Government has already rejected.

Three months after his re-election and the spelling out of his ten-point
economic plan, the Government's economic planners are still to come up with
a blueprint that clearly enunciates this new economic vision.

Instead we still find ourselves rattling along the same road with agrarian
reform being regarded as more of a social and political programme rather
than an economic plan by our technocrats. The politicians and
agriculturists, who are not the country's economic planners, have been left
to articulate this new economic thrust. This is unacceptable.

Despite scepticism that the land reform programme would kill the agriculture
economy, crops such as tobacco that were not affected by the drought have
increased both in quantity and earnings due to the land reform programme's
newly resettled farmers.

The numbers coming out of the tobacco auction floors have put to shame those
who were saying the programme was going to adversely affect the country's
number one foreign currency earning crop.

Were it not for the drought, the country's maize production was set to
increase dramatically because the area that had been put under maize was
considerably bigger than in previous years.

So it is indeed disturbing to note that our economic planners and analysts
are not articulating the economic benefits of this programme.

There is a serious lack of cohesion on the way forward. The bottom line,
however, is that the politics of the country determine the economic path to
be followed, as it is the basis upon which the people vote for their
leaders. Those who do not agree with the economics of the political
leadership of this country have no business to be in Government. The most
honourable thing to do is to either part ways or embrace the new economic
thinking whole-heartedly and make it a success in every way possible.
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